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She didn’t look fine. Her face was puffy and too pink, and her voice was scratchy like she’d been crying hard.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Is Huey okay?”
She shook her head, muttering, “I’m fine.” Then she looked down at Huey and cried harder. Was the baby okay? He looked all right. He was eating and kicking his legs. Definitely didn’t seem hurt in any way.
“Is there something wrong with the baby, Nova?”
She shook her head. “Only that he’s saddled with an incompetent teenage mother and is going to end up in prison with melanoma because I don’t know how to put sunscreen on him,” she sobbed out.
I blinked several times. I would have laughed if she hadn’t been crying so hard. “What? Nova, quit crying; you aren’t making any sense.”
She just cried harder, and I didn’t know what to do. I rubbed her arm, while Huey seemed oblivious to his caregiver’s emotional trauma, happily sucking down his bottle like he didn’t have a care in the world.
When Dev turned up, I’d never been happier to see his face. Considering he’d once rescued me after I was handcuffed to a puck bunny’s bed for three hours, that was really saying something.
He pulled open the door, took one look at Nova, another at Huey, and raised an eyebrow. I shrugged, because I still had no fucking idea what was going on. He stuck his head in the passenger door.
“Did someone hurt you?” he growled.
“Only emotionally.”
Dev frowned. He untangled Huey from her arms and gave me a loaded look. “I’ll burp the baby. Tell River what’s wrong.” With that, he closed the door again, and Nova looked at me with those big hazel eyes that broke my heart.
Why was she still crying?Ugh, fuck it.Sliding the seat back as far as it would go, I picked Nova up and pulled her into my arms. She let out a little squeak, sitting stiffly on my lap until I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her tightly to my chest. She tucked her head beneath my chin, her sniffles loud through the car.
I stroked her back until her tears dried up a little. “Tell me what happened.”
As she recounted the absolute bullshit some old lady was spewing at her, I did my best not to feel incredulous. This was what she was crying about? We were sitting in a car that cost more than most people's houses. Obviously that woman’s views didn’t apply to Nova, so why did it upset her so much?
“And why are you crying in the car?” I murmured softly against her hair. God, she felt nice in my arms. She just fit so perfectly, and it made my chest feel way too full. Rigby was onto something with this hugging thing.
“She was right. Well, not about the teenage pregnancy thing, obviously. I’m twenty-four, so it's been a hot minute since my teenage years. But I don’t have any idea what I’m doing, and who do I ask? I’m motherless. And fatherless. I have no one to ask about these things. I don’t have anyone to ask if I’m fucking this up.” She sniffed, and her tears started again. “I miss my mom.”
Ah. I had nothing to help that kind of hurt. It was a wound only time would ease. So I stroked her back and let her cry, giving her all the reassurance I could without saying a word. I also formulated a plan. Because I wanted Nova to be happy—not just because she had custody of Huey, and keeping her happy meant keeping him.
I liked Nova. She was sweet and fierce. She was stronger than she gave herself credit for. She was a good mother, even though she didn’t believe it, and didn’t know every nuance to motherhood like someone who’d had six or nine months to prepare. But she was giving 110% to the job.
“Listen, Huey is a happy baby, and he loves you already. He lights up when you’re around. In a couple of short weeks, you’ve become his safe space. The rest we’ll figure out on the way. We’ll make mistakes, but in the end, Hueywillgrow up to be a happy, emotionally healthy kid who definitely won’t be in jail or have skin cancer, I promise.”
She let out a weird snort-sob. She was overwhelmed, that was obvious. And her meltdown had less to do with some old bitch and more to do with her grief. Still, I pulled her shoulders back, and pushed her hair back from her sticky cheeks.
She looked down at the wet patch on my chest from her tears, and her already pink cheeks darkened. I saw when embarrassment overcame her distress. I watched as she got mad at herself, saw the frustration in her eyes.
“He’ll end up a basket case because I’m a basket case. I’m sorry.” She scrambled off my lap, and I swallowed hard to stop myself from grabbing at her hips to make her stay where she was, tucked against my chest.
I shook my head. “He’ll be fine. Spoiled rotten, probably, but he’ll know so much love. I swear it.” And I did. Huey would have the childhood Dev and I never got. I swore it on Alana’s memory.
“I guess—” She froze, her eyes looking out the windshield. I turned and saw an elderly woman walking into the parking lot.
Anger welled in my chest. “Is that the lady?”
“River—” she started.
“Is. That. Her?”
She nodded, and that was all I needed. I climbed out of the car, ignoring Nova’s pleas. I strode over to the old bitch who’d needlessly caused Nova so much heartache. When the old woman’s eyes met mine, they lit up, first in obvious appreciation, and then—when she reached my face after ogling my body—in recognition.
“Oh my gosh, River Cooper! I am such a fan. My ex-husband was a massive IceCaps supporter—only good thing that bastard left behind. I took his box seats in the divorce. I come to all your games!”
